InshaAllah?

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And never say of anything, "I shall do such and such thing tomorrow."  Except (with the saying), "If Allah wills!"
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Quran 18:23-24

InshaAllah means "if Allah wills" so the above quote from the Quran commands Muslims to say "InshaAllah".  Why is this required?  Just because it is technically true that everything requires God's will doesn't mean that one has to say it.  For example, it is also true that to do such and such thing tomorrow depends on you being alive tomorrow, but you aren't required to say "if I am alive".

In the New Testament, James (brother of Jesus) says something similar along with an explanation.

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Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
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James 4:13-16

This explanation makes sense.  Saying "InshaAllah" is a remedy for arrogance.

The problem is that today laziness is a bigger problem than arrogance, and saying "InshaAllah" has become a way of blaming God for failure that is actually caused by laziness.  This is also seen in the fatalistic thinking that "InshaAllah" is used to support, and this fatalistic thinking is another excuse for laziness.

Growing up in America, I knew the phrase "God willing" but I had never actually heard it used until I went to Mexico.  In Mexico, I got on a bus and asked the driver when we would arrive at our destination and he said "3pm God willing" (in Spanish "si dios quiere") with a fatalistic tone.  My immediate response was "who will drive the bus, you or God?".  This kind of fatalistic thinking seems common in Islam today and saying "InshaAllah" is just making this problem worse.

What is the solution?  I propose that something is added to "InshaAllah" to bring balance.  I don't know Arabic, but in English I would say something like "God willing with my best effort".  This makes it clear that results depend both on God's will and on one's effort.  This phrase does not work to support fatalism or as an excuse for laziness.  So I think an Arabic phrase like this would solve the problem.

The last two jumah talks at my mosque were about good behavior and morals.  The point of the talks was that five pillars of Islam are meant as a basis for building good behavior, so if you just do the five pillars but this doesn't result in good behavior, then this is worthless.  Of course I agree.  But the problem is that a jumah talk by itself is not enough to change the behavior of Muslims.  Most Muslims would agree that good behavior is a good thing.  So why don't they do it?  What is the cause of the gap between how Muslims should behave and how they really behave?  My answer is that the gap is caused by lack of effort.  Good behavior is hard to do.  It requires serious effort.  Saying "InshaAllah" just undermines this effort and perpetuates this gap.  I believe that saying "God willing with my best effort" would be a step in the right direction and would improve the good behavior of Muslims.